Staffordshire Schools Football Association

On Tuesdat 22nd October the Under 14 boys will take their first steps into County football, lets hope that they are not tentative. Manager Dan Dawson has named the squad below for the first game against Warwickshire Schools FA which will take place at Rugby Borough FC (Formerly Rugby Town Juniors ) with a 7-30 KO. All players are asked to report between 6-00 and 6-30pm. Dress code is school uniform. County ties will be available for purchase.

Address for Satnav

Kilsby Lane Rugby CV21 4PN

Kamil Dudek Sir Graham Balfour

Travis Ziglam Moorside

Archie Sage OHSSM

Thomas Taylor Chase Terrace

Jacob Danen Chsae Terrace

Joe Davies Trentham Academy

Braden Webb Wolgarston

Ronny Wakelin EDA

Charlie King Blessed William Howard

Lucas Sant Clayton Hall

Dan Hughes Wolgarston

Doug Hughes Wolgarston

Owen Cantrill Chase Terrace

Jharrel Williams Alleynes Academy

Dylan Scott Alleynes Academy

Hayden Cordell Trentham Academy

Standby

Finn Murray Wolgarston

Woody Ford Landau Forte Amington

A brief match report from Under 15 team manager Neil Davies.

Staffs Under 15’s boys got off to the perfect start in their first game of the new County season at Stafford Town against Warwickshire, showing the sort of football that saw them lift the MCS trophy last season.

Pressing from the start Staffs would have been two goals up but for the heroics of the Warwickshire goalkeeper, although the deadlock was broken midway though the first half when Will Finlay raced onto a through ball before slotting home. The second goal didn’t come until the hour mark as skipper Sol Ashworth finally netted to break the visitors resistance. This allowed the Staffs boys to relax and they added two more excellent goals late on through James Plant and Todd Alcock. This was a really workmanlike performance and the boys showed patience and played some excellent football to keep the crowd well entertained on what was another wet evening.

Final Score

On Monday night the Under 15 Boys take on Warwickshire School's FA in a MCF league fixture. They will be considered the team to beat by many having been crowned Under 14 Champions last year. Manager Neil Davies has strengthened the squad this season and the game will KO at 7-30pm slightly later than usual.

Squad.

George Lenton

Euan Wade

Matt Cutler

Lewis Hassall

Mason Pickering

Adam Bostock

Sol Ashworth Captain

Todd Alcock

Alfie Clarke

James Plant

Will Finlay

Ben Herrington

Archie England

George Taylor GK

Rafferty Winnall

Adam Cockbill

James Miller

Players should report for 6-30pm. County ties will be available.Usual dress code applies.

On Sunday several of our girls will be trialling to try and gain Midlands representative honours in pursuit of ESFA International Honours. We wish them every success at Stafford Town on Sunday afternoon.

On the 21st of October the U26 Boys are taking on the Under 18 Boys as both need a final game to hone selection before their ESFA national cup games. The Under 16 Boys travel to Humberside whilst the Under 18's host Cheshire.

Last night the Under 16 Girls travelled to Lilleshall to play Shropshire SFA in the first MCF fixture of the season. They found themselves with a 3-0 deficit at half time but a rousing second half performance saw the girls draw level only to concede in time added on to suffer the cruelest of defeats. The game will have sharpened them up for the first round of the National competition when the travel to Nottingham on the 28th of October to do battle with Nottinghamshire SFA.

The Under 18 Boys welcomed Cheshire SFA to Stafford Town FC to play a friendly match against opponents that they will meet in the second round of the national competition in December. The game ended in a 3-3 draw with both sides playing entertaining, attacking football. Staffordshire led when Max Dixon pinched the ball from a defender and cooly rounded the keeper to score. Several opportunities were spurned by both sides before Cheshire scored two goals to lead 2-1 at half time. The second half saw Staffordshire dominate for long periods and two clinical strikes from Oli Waddison put them in the driving seat.

As the game reached its conclusion Staffordshire missed a great chance to seal the win only to allow Cheshire a soft goal and a share of the spoils.

The next game is on Monday night when the Under 15 Boys are in MCF action against Warwickshire at Stafford Town FC KO 7-30pm

On Monday the Under 16 Girls kick off the competitive season for Staffordshire Schools FA with a MCF fixture against near neighbours Shropshire. The game will be taking place at Lilleshall Hall National Sports Centre with a 7-00pm KO. Players will be changing at the pavilion which is adjacent to the football pitches..

Manager Kieran Newey has informed the squad selected and players should report for as near to six as possible. Usual dress code applies. The game will be perfect preparation for their ESFA National Cup tie which has been arranged for Monday the 28th of October, during the half term holiday, where our opponents are Nottinghamshire SFA. In all liklihood the game will be played at Dunkirk FC, Nottingham but this still has to be confirmed.

On the same day Staffordshire Under 18 Boys meet Cheshire SFA in a friendly at Stafford Town FC with a 7-00pm KO. The two teams will meet on the 2nd of December in the second round of the ESFA national cup, again with Staffordshire having home advantage. Admission to the game is £3 adults and £2 concessions.Players who qualify will be trying to impress as nominations for the Regional trials will be made after the game.Players should report for 6-oopm and usual dress code applies.

The Under 15 and Under 16 Boys were in action last night in friendly games against Lichfield City U16 and Stoke City Academy U15 respectively. In constant rainfall of biblical proportions both games produced some high quality football and superb entertainment for the crowd. The Under 15 Boys ran out 3-2 winners against a strong Lichfield City side with goals from Will Finlay and skipper Sol Ashworth (2 ).

The Under 16 side put on a scintillating display of high tempo and technically gifted football against a side although a year younger are at an Academy and who train three times a week. Staffordshire started well and led through a superb Harry Buzzard goal. They stretched their lead with a James May strike before a superb free kick  from Stoke.Eden Bailey stretched Staffordshires lead with a wonderful goal after a brilliant piece of teamwork.

Stoke started the second half well and applied pressure on the Staffordshire defence but Joe Baxter was imperious and defensively the side looked strong. Goals from Jack Thomas and debutant Joe Morley put the icing on the cake and gives the side great confidence going into their Midland County programme.and the national cup against Humberside is on the horizon.

Special mention must go to our match officials who braved the elements in horrendous conditions and as ever we are extremely grateful for their undaunting support.

Thanks to Lichfield City and Stoke City Academy for providing us with opposition at relatively short notce and we are grateful to Leighton Thomas and Steve Travis for making the games happen.

The following players have been selected to represent Staffordshire for the forthcoming season. The coaches made some difficult decisions but were impressed with the players on display in the three trial sessions. Congratulations to those selected and commiserations to those who did not make the cut this year. It is hoped that those boys in the lower sixth will trial again next year and the Association wishes to thank all players and parents for all who trialled this year for their support and efforts, it is much appreciated,

All boys in the squad will be rquire for the first game against Cheshire on the 7th of October at Stafford Town against Cheshire Schools FA. Information will be emailed to all players.

1. George Hill
2. Harvey Belcher
3. Josh Lewis
4. Carter Lycett
5. Ant Sheldon
6. Owen Turner
7. Matt Ball -
8. Oli Watchorn Rice
9. Alex Smith
10. Oli Putnam
11. Kyle Ashman
12. Charlie Drain
13. Jay Wilkinson -
14. Dave Pereira -
15. Lewis Wilkinson -
16. Callum Griffiths -
17. Christian Blanchette
18. Oli Waddison
19. Lewis Salmon
20. Max Dixon

Standby players

Jacob Gwilt

Oli Jarvis

Sam Bowater

Jack Bowater

Bailey Evans names the squad below for the friendly against Stoke City FC Academy Under 15 Boys. KO 7-15/30

The Under 15 Squad who play Lichfield City Under 16 Boys is named below: KO 6-00pm

George Lenton Landau Forte Amington

George Taylor St Thomas More

Euan Wade Walton HS

Mason Pickering

Lewis Hassall

Matt Cutler Stafford GS

Sol Ashworth Endon

Archie England EDA

Will Finlay EDA

Kyle Corns Codsall

Ruben Cooner Stafford GS

Jack Bostock King Edward VI Lichfield

James Plant Moorside

James Miller Trentham Academy

Ben Runacas De Ferrers Academy

Adam Cockbill Weston Road

Ben Herrington Cardinal Griffin

Henry Hadgett STB

Dako Vujcic Endon

Eammon Clowes

Jake Morgan

Josh Onions STB

Jensen Peake Friary

U15 players to report for 5-15 and Under 16 players for 6-15. There is an admission charge of £3 adults and £2 concessions.

Next Monday, the 30th September, two games have been arranged to ensure the Under 15 and 16 Boys have ba competitive game under their belts before the Midland Counties fixtures begin.  The Under 15 Boys will play Lichfield City Under 16 Boys and the Undr 16 Boys will take on Stoke City Academy Under 15 Boys. Both games will provide a stern test for the players and will be ideal preparation for the forthcoming season.

The Under 15 Boys will kick off at 6-00pm and the Under 16's at 7-15/30. Admission to the game will be £3 adults and £2 concessions.Squads for the games will be published later in the week.

The U14 Staffordshire XI to play Stoke RTC will now be on Tuesday evening and not Wednesday because of an error on their part with the booking of the pitch. More details to follow but emails and phone numbers are neede as a matter of urgency.

Emails have been sent to the boys invited to the final Under 18 trial where the squad for the upcoming Cheshire game will be selected.The trial takes place at Stafford Town FC on Monday 23rd of September with a 6-30 start.

The teams involved in the national cups have had mixed fortunes with the draws. The Under 16 Boys face a tough task with a journey to play Humberside who always provide stiff opposition. The Under 14 Girls will host Bedfordshire in their first round match whilst the Under 14 Boys have a bye in Round 1 but will then face the winners of Merseyside or South Yorkshire in Round 2, in Staffordshire.

The Under 16 Girls will travel to meet old rivals Nottinghamshire in Round 1 and finally the Under 18 Boys have a home tie against Cheshire in Round 2 having being awarded a bye in Round 1. More details regarding dates will be posted nearer the deadlines for the matches to be played

Staffordshire School's FA, like most school's football organisations is run by a willing band of volunteers. Most have been involved in the game all of their lives and are putting back something to a game which has given them huge pleasure over the years. The age profile of the volunteers is towards the upper end of the spectrum and with that in mind we are always on the lookout for anyone who can contribute in any way.As funding from the ESFA and FA has been cut to the bone more than ever is the need for support to help keep Staffordshire SFA as a vibrant well run organisation.

Referees and assistants are always welcome. We currently have an excellent group of volunteer referees who take games for us without a fee, recognising that everyone who is at a game and those who have organised it do so for free as volunteers, and they are happy with out of pocket expenses. To a man they all agree that County football is the most disciplined football that they officiate. They enjoy the fact that the standard of play is very high but more importantly they are not hit with abuse from players or parents as we do not tolerate either from players ar parents. In the past ten years there has only been one player from Staffordshire dismissed from the field of play, something we are proud of and which we will endeavour to maintain.

If you are a referee or know of a referee who might like to join our team then please make contact through the website, you will be made more than welcome.

@staffsschoolsfa will allow all to follow what is going on and will supplement the information available on the website.

Follow the account which is being run by Under 15 team Manager Bailey Evans.